Tulare County Responds to Community Pleas to Collaborate on Proven Garbage Solution

Dismissive Response Demonstrates County’s Lack of Knowledge and Experience

For months, the unincorporated community of Three Rivers has been trying to get Tulare County to collaborate on a proven solution to a serious garbage service failure that has resulted in an escalating crisis. The county’s garbage service has given bears unfettered access to human food, resulting in trash distributed across the community on a daily basis, home entry, blocked roads, and significant property damage. 

For months Tulare County management has ignored the community’s phone calls and emails. Recently, the community launched a petition and an email campaign in an effort to get the county’s attention and work together towards a solution. The county has responded with an anonymous email advocating a plan that has failed in all jurisdictions that have tried it. 

The county’s solution, as articulated in its response to the community’s emails, is to have individuals acquire “bear-resistant” containers from the county’s hauler on a voluntary basis. There are numerous obvious problems with this approach:

• Bear resistance isn’t defined. Accordingly, the hauler is offering plastic rollaway carts and metal bins/dumpsters that are not certified bear resistant. Its so-called “bear resistant” bins/dumpsters are easily accessed by bears. Its uncertified plastic carts are so difficult to open, visitors to the community’s short-term rentals (STRs) are unable to use them. 
• The  so-called “bear resistant” containers are not offered for all waste streams. Accordingly, recycling and yard/food waste carts are not at all secured. The data definitively demonstrate that containers for all waste streams must be certified bear resistant. Furthermore, most of the bins/dumpsters that the hauler has been falsely representing as bear resistant are used for all waste streams in violation of state law. 
• The county has approved an unreasonable surcharge for the so-called bear-resistant containers. The Board of Supervisors approved a starting surcharge of $12 per cart per month in perpetuity with the option of increasing the rate. The county’s hauler says it is purchasing the carts at $300 each. At the rate of $12 per month, the hauler will recover the extra cost within two years. Other communities pay much less because they get grants from their counties and states, which decreases the surcharge, and the surcharge is terminated when the carts are paid off. Maintenance is already covered in the fees the community currently pays. Replacement frequency is low with certified bear-resistant containers.
• The voluntary approach has been proven ineffective. It is a well-established fact that partial bear resistance is the same as no bear resistance. Jurisdictions that have tried a voluntary approach have seen an escalation in adverse human-bear interactions rather than a decrease. Without a mandate for certified bear-resistant containers, many STR owners and residents will not use them. It is crucially important that any mandate be accompanied by affordability and that the carts and bins/dumpsters meet the community’s established requirements. 

The community of Three Rivers and the Bear Smart Three Rivers team are urgently calling on Tulare County to collaborate with the community to implement an affordable solution that has been proven effective in communities across the United States. 

To tell Tulare County what you think, send an email to Tulare County Solid Waste and the Board of Supervisors.

For more information see Bear Smart Three Rivers Needs Your Help, Bears Breaking into Homes and Damaging Property, and Bears & Community at Risk — Speak Up Now!

FULL BEAR RESISTANCE + AFFORDABILITY + COMMUNITY COLLABORATION = SUCCESS

From the Bear Smart Three Rivers Team.